World War Two veterans attended a service yesterday to mark the 75th anniversary of the arrival of hundreds of thousands of US troops in Northern Ireland.

More than 300,000 GIs were stationed here during the war as they prepared to be deployed across Europe and Africa.

A reception to commemorate the anniversary was held at the Belfast Harbour Commissioners Office yesterday where footage of the US troops landing in Northern Ireland was shown.

Among those attending the Northern Ireland War Memorial event was US Army veteran Teddy Dixon (96), who was born in New York. "My mother and father were originally from Northern Ireland and we moved back here when I was five," he said. "I joined the US Army in 1944 and fought in a number of battles."

He was joined by 93-year-old Bill Eames from Enniskillen, who served with the Royal Air Force from the age of 17.